JOURNAL EXCERPT: Don't Forget to Write, by John Prine
EDITOR'S NOTE: This piece was the Screen Door — the final page — of the Spring 2019 issue ("Standards & Stanzas") of No Depression's quarterly journal. We were so honored that John Prine agreed to write it for us, and so delighted by how much his
Skylar Gudasz Sounds Good Going Bad on ‘Cinema’
Durham, North Carolina-based singer-songwriter Skylar Gudasz has been compared to Joni Mitchell in the past. Which is understandable considering Gudasz’s stellar voice and her unique usage of open guitar tunings. But her lyrical attitude is more Sunset Strip or CBGB’s than Topanga Canyon. That’s why a better
THROUGH THE LENS: John Prine Was One of Us
“I guess I just process death differently than some folks. Realizing you’re not going to see that person again is always the most difficult part about it. But that feeling settles, and then you are glad you had that person in your life, and then the happiness and the
In His One-of-a-Kind Voice, John Anderson Celebrates Past and Present on ‘Years’
John Anderson still has one of the most recognizable voices in country music, and listening to Years is like hearing an old friend tell you stories and sing you songs about the lessons he’s learned in life. The singer who brought us “Swingin’,” “Straight Tequila Night,” “Seminole Wind,” and
John Prine, A Beacon of Middle America
When John Prine sang of “Paradise,” an Americana concept became a real and present truth. He wrote the song for his father, who was reared in the pastoral confines of Western Kentucky coal country. But he sang it for my great-grandparents, my second and third cousins, and great aunts and
ROOTS IN THE ARCHIVE: Zora Neale Hurston’s Song-Collecting Recordings
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the debut of our new monthly column, Roots in the Archive. Each month, Stephen Winick, writer and editor for the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress and editor of their blog, Folklife Today, will highlight items of interest to roots music fans